Peelable package for sterile articles



A. JILANGDON PEELABLE PACKAGE FOR STERILE ARTICLES June 20, 1967 Filed March 1.7, 1966 INVENTOR ARTHUR J. LANGDON BY W ML ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,326,450 PEELABLE PACKAGE FOR STERILE ARTICLES Arthur J. Langdon, East Hampton, Conn., assignor to Edward Week & Company, Inc., Long Island City, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 17, 1966, Ser. No. 535,132 1 Claim. (Cl. 229-62) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An open-ended sterilizable envelope for retaining articles before, during and after sterilization. The envelope which is formed from a unitary paper blank having an endless cohesive band on one surface thereof, may be filled, sealed by folding over a hinged scalable flap, and sterilized. The sealed envelope is readily peeled open when the enclosed article is to be utilized.

This invention relates in general to packaging techniques and more particularly concerns a peel-open sterilizable envelope for retaining articles before, during and after sterilization.

It is common practice to package and store surgical instruments, surgeons gloves and like articles in sealed envelopes before sterilization in order to retain these articles in sterile condition after sterilization and until use. Often, in the commercial application of this practice, a sterilized article, or an article to be sterilized, is furnished by the manufacture thereof in a sealed envelope capable of withstanding sterilization in a steam autoclave or by exposure to sterilant gases.

Various types of envelope materials are used and while paper is most frequently employed because of low cost and ease of fabrication, and also because its inherent porosity enhances sterilization, such packages are at times made of metal foil or metal foil laminates sealed with resins requiring the application of heat and pressure in a die. Since sealing techniques are difiicult with these metal foil materials, and since their lack of porosity limits sterilization to high temperatures, metal foil envelopes are impractical for in-ofiice or in-hospital packaging.

Cohesives such as latex have been used as the sealing material for paper packages. A common technique uses two like size confronting paper blanks, the inner surface of one blank being completely coated with cohesive, while the cohesive is limited to a zone around the edge of the second blank. To package an article, it is first placed on the fully coated blank; thereafter the zone-coated blank is pressed on this blank to form a seal therewith. Certain advantages are achieved with this type of package and in particular the use of two sheets coated as described poses no problems of registration in the packaging process. In other words, the cohesive material in both sheets will mate notwithstanding significant displacement of one sheet with respect to the other.

Despite the economy of the packing arrangement just described, certain obvious disadvantages are present, perhaps the most significant being that the uniform coating of cohesive on one sheet substantially counteracts the natural porosity of the paper, which as noted is important during sterilization. In addition, a serious disadvantage results from the fact that when such a pack is peeled open, the structure separates into two sheets with the possibility that the article therein will fall or slip onto a non-sterile surface.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an open-ended sterilizable paper envelope made of a unitary paper blank for retaining articles before, during and after sterilization, said envelope being easily scalable by hand pressure in ofiicc or hospital.

A further object is to provide an open-ended envelope into which the ultimate user can insert his choice of articles and then hand seal the envelope for sterilization of the envelope and its contents, the principal areas of the envelope being uncoated paper to facilitate steam sterilization and drying or gas sterilization and evacuation of the gas.

Another object is to provide such envelopes in a form such that they may easily be stacked, ready for use, in large quantity and in various sizes in a minimum of space, without adhering one to another.

A further object is to provide an envelope which, once sealed and sterilized, may be easily peeled open without tearing thereof to provide a convenient flat, sterile workin g surface.

Broadly speaking, the present invention achieve-s these objects by means of an open-ended envelope formed from a single generally rectangular blank of paper folded in half about its central transverse axis. The paper blank prior to folding is provided with an endless or continuous narrow band of cohesive substance, such as latex, disposed near the periphery of what becomes the inner surface after folding. An outwardly turned flap is provided on one of the envelope panels so that the envelope itself is normally open at one end. After insertion of the appropriate article the envelope may be closed simply by turning the flap and then applying light pressure to the mating cohesive areas. Cohesive-free tabs are provided at the normally open end of the envelope to enable the user to easily peel the envelope open and thereby provide a sterile lip through which its contents may be withdrawn. These envelopes may be stacked one upon the other, front panel to back panel without danger of one sticking to another.

The foregoing features and advantages of the openr ended envelopes of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of fiat, as on a table top;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a stack of open-ended envelopes ready for use;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a sealed envelope containing a glove for illustrative purposes; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the sealed envelope of FIG. 3 as it is being pulled open to expose the enclosed glove.

With reference now to the drawing and more particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is illustrated a generally rectangular blank 10 of sterilizable paper such as 25# Claremont white kraft paper. As will become apparent in the following description, FIG. 1 may be considered either as showing the cohesive-coated paper blank prior to folding into an open-ended envelope or as showing the appearance of an envelope which has been fully opened to re veal a flat, sterile working surface. At this time, however, FIG. 1 will be discussed in reference to the fabrication of the envelope of the present invention.

More specifically, the paper blank 10 shown in FIG. 1 is divided into two equal size connected panels 11, 11' by a symmetrically disposed transverse fold line 1313. An endless or continuous narrow band 12 of latex cohesive is disposed about the entire periphery of the blank; this band being symmetrical about fold line axis 13-43. In the main, the cohesive band 12 is adjacent the periphery of the sheet, except at the corners where the cohesive is angled as at 14a, 5, c, d, to provide the respective cohesive-free corner tabs 1511, b, c, d. It should be apparent immediately that, due to the symmetrical nature of the cohesive band 12, fold-over about axis 13-13 will result in the mating of the cohesive on the two panels 11, 11. i

a fully opened envelope, laid The left-hand panel 11 as viewed in FIG. 1 is provided With a fold line 1818, which lies along an axis parallel to previously mentioned fold line 13-13, and embraces the area of the blank which includes the two cohesivefree tabs a, 15c. Apart from the fold line 18-1S, the two panels 11, 11 and the respective portions of the cohesive band 12 and the cohesive-free corner tabs 15 may be thought of as being mirrored about fold line 13-13.

With reference now to FIG. 2, there is shown a stack 19 of envelopes, each of which has been formed from a blank 10 as shown in FIG. 1. The uppermost envelope in the stack 19 demonstrates the product of the envelopeforming technique previously described. Thus, an end flap 21 is formed by turning back the porion of blank 10 to the left of fold line 18-18 as viewed in FIG. 1, While the two panels 11, 11 have been folded into confronting relation-ship about axis 1313. By folding the two panels 11, 11' about axis 13-13, the respective confronting portions of the cohesive band 12 mate and, with suitable pressure, seal to form the closed side edges of the envelope, as best shown in FIG. 2. The mouth 22 of the envelope, which is formed at the fold line 18-18, is open and capable of receiving various objects as desired, according to the size of the package.

In viewing FIG. 2, it should be noted that the exposed portions of the cohesive band 12 on the two ends of the envelope both face the same direction (up, in FIG. 2). The underside of the same envelope is nothing but a smooth sheet of paper. The envelopes, therefore, will not stick to one another and the upper envelope may be lifted off of the one underneatth with ease.

Taking an envelope such as the one shown on top of the stack 19 in FIG. 2, a pair of gloves 23 may be inserted through the open mouth 22 and the flap 21 may then be turned over so that the chevron-shaped portion of the cohesive band 12 on panel 11 mates with the corresponding portion of the cohesive band 12 on the adjacent panel 11. By the application of light pressure to these mating cohesive areas 14a, b, c, d, the envelope may be sealed,

as shown in FIG. 3. The corner tabs 15a, b, c, and d tend to lie together in respective facing pairs 15a, b and 150, d, but because these regions are cohesive-free as previously described, they provide means for gripping and peeling open the sealed envelope.

This is best illustrated in FIG. 4 which show-s the glovecontaining envelope of FIG. 3 being opened by the user at the appropriate time. Tabs 15c, 15d have been gripped and pulled with sufficient strength to break the cohesive seal and partially peel the envelope. Peeling apart the entire seal returns the envelope to the condition shown in FIG. 1.

In use, items such as the glove 23, may be sealed in the envelopes shown and these may be set aside for any length of time. Immediately thereafter or at any time prior to use, the sealed envelope with the article therein may be placed in an autoclave for sterilization, the steam passing through the porous paper from both sides of the sealed envelope to expedite the sterilization process. Sterilant gases such as ethylene oxide may be used in place of steam, and these too will pass through all paper surfaces of the envelope and contact the article therein. Since sterilization techniques and suitably permeable papers are well known and in themselves form no part of the present invention, further details thereof will not be presented herein.

After sterilization, opening the envelope to the condition shown in FIG. 1 provides a convenient flat, sterile working surface and, because the two panels 11, 11 are integral, divided only by a fold line, there is little danger of the article falling to a non-sterile surface during opening of the envelope, as in FIG. 4.

Although it is unnecessary to describe the manufacturing techniques used in quantity production of envelopes, such as shown in FIG. 2, it should be noted that certain features enhance the speed and economy of production. In particular, since only one paper blank is used in forming the envelope, registration problems for the cohesive are substantially eliminated. That is to say, that the symmetry of the cohesive band assures registration when the blank is folded about the transverse axis of symmetry, namely, fold line 1313. I

Obviously, many modifications may be made in the size and shape of the envelopes herein described as Well as the materials used therein and their ultimate uses; accordingly, it is to be understood that all such modifications of the preferred embodiment of the present invention are within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

An open-ended, sealable envelope for retaining articles before, during and after sterilization comprising:

a unitary rectangular paper blank;

said blank having a continuous endless narrow band of cohesive symmetrically disposed on one surface about a central transverse axis thereof, said cohesive band lying adjacent each of the two opposite side edges of said blank and extending inwardly to a V-shaped portion at each end thereof, the apex of each said V-shaped portion pointing toward and disposed adjacent its respective end of said blank thereby defining four triangular cohesive free corners of said blank;

said blank being folded about said central transverse axis to form a pair of integral confronting panels having engaged facing cohesive coated areas along said side edges, one end of said blank being reverse folded about a second transverse axis parallel to said central transverse axis to form a hinged flap, said second axis being disposed at the most widely separated portion of the respective V-shaped area of said cohesive band on said hinged flap, whereby both said V-shaped areas are exposed entirely on one side of said envelope, providing said envelope with an open end of a width equal to the distance between the inner edges of said cohesive band in the region of said edges;

whereby, on folding said hinged flap about said second axis, said V-shaped cohesive areas fall into registration and may be securely engaged to seal said envelope;

said sealed envelope being openable by pulling apart a pair of confronting cohesive-free triangular corners and peeling the engaged segments of said cohesive band from one another to expose a flat, sterile surface.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,676,702 4/ 1954 Whitefoot 206-632 3,062,371 1 1/1962 Patience 20663.2 3,147,861 9/ 1964 Kurtz 20663.3 3,217,871 11/1965 Lee 20663.2 3,225,920 12/1965 Reilly 22987 JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner. DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Assistant Examiner. 

